


The Interview

by MayGlenn



Series: Maeglin's Hobbit Birthday Ficlet Gifts [21]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Adoption, Gen, M/M, Nebulous Well-Adjusted Future, POV Outsider, outside perspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:21:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27751474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayGlenn/pseuds/MayGlenn
Summary: “So...Misters Ortecho,” the adoption agent said, folding her hands sympathetically.The two men before her seemed to be very carefully not holding hands on purpose, perhaps worried about being “too gay” or something, in front of her. One man had taken off a cowboy hat and schooled himself into a posture that was somehow still slouchy, meant to seem ‘polite’ or even supplicatory. The other had an intense gaze and wore a somewhat ill-fitting polo shirt. Hardly a day over thirty, either of them, she’d guess, by the smile wrinkles around their eyes and nowhere else.“Obviously you’ve passed all the fostering classes, and the odds of getting a placement are very high, since you mentioned a desire to foster older children.”
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Series: Maeglin's Hobbit Birthday Ficlet Gifts [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939471
Comments: 20
Kudos: 94





	The Interview

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lychee_jelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lychee_jelly/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26076751) by [haloud](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haloud/pseuds/haloud), [MayGlenn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayGlenn/pseuds/MayGlenn). 



> Lychee asked for "Malex from an outsider pov in a happy future"...and of course I wanted to put it in the To Raise a Child Universe. BUT I had to wait for a particular reveal in chapter 20 which is why I'm posting this late! Thanks for the prompt, Lychee!!
> 
> If you haven't read To Raise a Child, this is a happy-childhood version of events where Michael was adopted by Arturo and grew up with Liz and Rosa as sisters. And if you think Alex wouldn't drop the Manes name as soon as he possibly could, think again 😂
> 
> This is also horribly under-researched, I have no idea what the fostering/adoption process looks like in New Mexico.

“So...Misters Ortecho,” the adoption agent said, folding her hands sympathetically. 

The two men before her seemed to be very carefully not holding hands on purpose, perhaps worried about being “too gay” or something, in front of her. One man had taken off a cowboy hat and schooled himself into a posture that was somehow still slouchy, meant to seem ‘polite’ or even supplicatory. The other had an intense gaze and wore a somewhat ill-fitting polo shirt. Hardly a day over thirty, either of them, she’d guess, by the smile wrinkles around their eyes and nowhere else. 

“Obviously you’ve passed all the fostering classes, and the odds of getting a placement are very high, since you mentioned a desire to foster older children.”

“Rather, no restrictions,” the curly-haired man said nervously. “We just want to help out any kids who need it. We can sleep three, four if we have some warning. To keep siblings together.” 

“Yes, your application mentioned that, Mr. Ortecho,” the social worker said, leafing through several character references within the folder from prominent community members: an Isobel Evans-Valenti, J.D., and Dr. Kyle Valenti, M.D., wrote one letter jointly, while others came from coworkers and neighbors. They had far more letters enclosed than the five required. 

After these references came the other official documentation: Michael’s adoption records by one Arturo Ortecho, their marriage certificate from 2014, and their employment records. Both of them worked for the labs and made a staggering amount of money, combined. “Excuse me, _Dr_. Ortecho, that’s—” 

The dark-haired one patted the curly-haired man’s knee, who blushed. “That’s Michael. Agricultural Engineering at NMSU.” 

“And you must be Alex.”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s right. I code software for the D-oh-D. Ah, Department of Defense, contracted through the labs.” 

“Yes, I don’t see anything that doesn’t check out. Your course instructors gave you both glowing recommendations, except for—”

“Yes, we’d like to appeal—” Alex spoke up here, gaze sharpening. 

The social worker raised a hand. “Sorry, I know. Ah, unfortunately, some of our instructors retain some outdated beliefs. I threw Mrs. Pince’s comments out of the final application since the others were glowing.” 

Alex only looked vaguely placated by this, but Michael squeezed his arm, as though to hold him back. “That’s fine,” Michael said. “Thank you for your understanding.”

The social worker continued before the more fiery Mr. Ortecho could decide he wanted to sue the department, because she’d be tempted to encourage him, frankly, just to get rid of Karen Pince. 

“What is your religious affiliation? It has no bearing on your acceptance into the program, we just sometimes use this to decide on appropriate placement for children.” 

Alex looked to Michael for that one. 

“Uh, on record, Catholic. But we’re happy to make any accommodations for any other faiths. Food, schedules, whatever. Especially if the kids are old enough, uh. We’re open to expanding our horizons.” 

She nodded. Ideal, again. 

“Spanish?” 

“He’s fluent. I’m working on it,” Alex informed her. 

She peered at him. “Any other languages?” 

“Just, like, Python, Java, C++...programming languages,” Alex admitted with a chuckle. “I have extended family who speak Diné, so we could figure that out.” 

“And you both have experience in the foster system.” 

“Er, sort of,” Alex said. “My parents separated when I was young, and my father, who had full custody, died while I was still in high school. I was doing well in school so I lived with a family friend in Roswell during the school year and with my mom in Gallup during the summers.” 

Michael coughed. “I was, ah, fostered by Arturo since I was small, and he adopted me when he became a U.S. citizen.” 

The social worker smiled. “How wonderful. But I see you had a few placements before this.” 

Michael looked obviously nervous, like this would negative impact their application rather than strengthen it. “Yes. I’m sure you know how these things just don’t work out sometimes.” 

“Believe me, I do. It’s not always easy for us to spot the Mrs. Pinces of the world. You understand why we have to be so thorough.” 

Michael nodded. 

“What does your support network look like?” 

“Our families are small and nontraditional, but close, and our friend network is like our family,” Alex said, sounding like this was rehearsed. “His adoptive sister’s got her PhD, too, and does research for the hospital. Her husband is a novelist. My mom in Gallup is also a computer programmer, and I have extended family on the Navajo Reservation. My foster-mother, Mimi, and his dad both own their own businesses in Roswell.” 

“I keep trying to get my dad to move in with us, but he really likes running the diner. We’re gonna keep working on him,” Michael said fondly. 

“Our adoptive sisters are married, also, to each other,” Alex said. “Ah, Rosa and Maria are thinking about having a baby of their own, that would actually be the first kid in the extended family, actually. So it’s not like there wouldn’t be other kids to play with.”

“Enough of our family members keep odd hours that babysitting won’t be a problem. My brother—” Michael seemed to pause awkwardly here, “ _in law_ really wants kids, too. He’d be there in a heartbeat if we needed anything.” 

“So, an older child is ideal for you because of your work schedules?” 

“Well. I work from home, but—” Alex began. 

“I’d take off time if one of us needed to,” Michael added. “Or quit. We’d still make enough with just Alex’s salary. We do own our house.” 

“I admire your dedication, but banking on an older child is something that will move you up the list. Now, how would you feel about adopting a child with any kind of special needs, such as a mental or physical disability, or behavioral issues?” 

“We’d figure it out,” Michael said. “I, um. I had some pretty _special_ needs as a kid, too, and I’m willing to work with a lot.”

“And what do you do if there’s anything you can’t handle?” 

Michael and Alex looked at each other. Alex tried, like it was a trick question and he was annoyed about being asked a trick question, “We...handle it together? Obviously?”

“O-or you mean if we can’t handle it ourselves?” Michael ventured. “Well there’s Arturo, and Mimi. His brother’s a teacher, so he knows a ton about kids.” 

She nodded. “That wasn’t a trick question, Mr. Ortecho. Knowing you have people you can ask and rely on is wonderful. Knowing that you rely on each other is what I like to hear, too.”

She folded up her papers, having a pretty good idea who she was dealing with here. “I think you have a prime portfolio for fostering, Mr. Ortecho, Dr. Ortecho. Now it’s just a matter of finding the children who need you the most.” 

“That’s great,” Alex said, extending a hand for her to shake. 

She wasn’t sure, but the adoption agent thought she saw tears standing in Michael’s eyes.


End file.
